Thumb-tack lifter and holder.



P. W. GRAUE. THUMB TACK LIFTER AND HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED 1:30.11, 1912.

1,101,845. Patented June 30,1914.

PAUL WILHELlVI GRAUE, OF CHICAGO ILLINOIS.

THUMB-TACK LIFTER AND HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1914.

Application filed December 11, 1912. Serial No. 736,072.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL W. GBAUE, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Thumb- Tack Lifters and Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a device for ex tracting tacks or like fastening the articles to which they are attached and for holding the same after such removal until they are again desired for use.

More particularly the device which forms the subject of this invention has been produced for use with thumb-tacks such as draftsmen use, which are invariably used over and over and whose safe keeping when not in use is always a matter of some moment, partly because of the importance of having them always at hand and partly because of their inconvenient propensity for falling with point up.

The object of the invention is the provision of a simple, cheap, inexpensive, and convenient device by. means of which the tacks may easily be removed and by which they will be securely retained from the instant of removal until the time when they are again needed.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a device which will extract the tack with equal facility no matter how negligently or improperly it may have been applied, while further objects and advantages of my invention will be disclosed as the description proceeds.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this application I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention, although it will be understood that many modifications in matters of detail could be made without departing from the scope of my invention or avoiding the object in view.

In these drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device; Figs. 2 and 3 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of the device taken upon planes at right angles to each other; and Fig. l is an end view showing the device at the moment of application to a badly inserted tack.

fipecifically described, the device in its present embodiment comprises a tubular casing forming a handle, said casing having devices from I at one end the removable cap 2 and having at the other end a flattened portion 3 formed with a longitudinal slot 4, the forwardend of said flattened portion being extended so as to form a pair of spaced fingers 5-5, the ends of which are preferably rounded as shown in Figs land 2 and beveled away on their upper surfaces as indicatedat 6. At apoint forward of the rearend of the slot 4 the casing terminates in a transverse wall 7 ,the portion of said wall immediately above the fingers 5-5 being cutaway to form an aperture 8. The height of this aperture at its midde point may conveniently be less than at its ends, the upper edge of the aperture being formed upon a downwardly convex curve as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this the purpose of permitting the tool to be applied to a badly applied tack without the necessity of making the aperture of such width as to permit the escape of tacks from the casing.

I also prefer to decrease the height of the casing at its forward end to an amount less than the length of a tack-shank and to continue this formation to a point beyond the end of this slot. One object of this construction is to prevent a tack from standing upright against the inner face of this wall with the edge of its head projecting through the aperture 8, since this position might lead to the escape of the tack. The other object is to decrease the liability that tacks will fall with their shanks in the slot and thus escape in the same way that they entered. To this end I preferably incline downwardly the upper wall of the casing at its forward end as illustrated at 10, although the same result could obviously be attained by means of a false partition or in other ways.

It is will be apparent without detailed description. It will be obvious that the operativeness of the device is independent of the length or shape of the casing, or the distance that the fingers 5 project beyond the wall 7, provided only that the slot 4: extend sufiiciently far within the wall 7 to permit the passage of the head of a tack.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A thumb tack lifter and holder, comprising a hollow tubular casing having at one end a pair of forwardly extending parallel claws defining a shank-receiving slot,

construction being adopted for though that the use of the device FEE the opposite wall of said. casing being inclined toward said slotted wall and terminating in an apron, said apron being substantially perpendicular to said slotted wall and spaced therefrom to form a tack-headreceiving aperture and the portion of said inclined wall nearest said apron being spaced from said slotted wall a distance less than the length of the tacks with which the device is to be used.

2. A litter and holder for tacks whose heads are broader than the length of their shanks, comprising a hollow tubular casing having at one end a pair of forwardly eX- tending parallel claws defining a shank-receiving slot, the opposite wall of said cas ing being inclined toward said slotted wall and terminating in an apron, said apron Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing which it is to be used, the height of said opening being a minimum immediately above said slot and increasing in each direction in proportion to the distance from said slot.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PAUL W'ILHELM GRAUE.

Witnesses:

G. S. l/VATERMAN, DELIA WVATERMAN.

the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

